Anyone else worried about the Max?

[Anderz]

Originally Posted by raidyr

They keep saying they are "considering" not letting MAX suits use vehicles. I'm hoping that means "beyond beta" because it would be horrible to blow up a tank and just before it dies an AV max gets out and rails your tank.

I agree. In fact, I'm pretty sure Higby talked about the very same scenario being the reason MAX's won't be allowed in tanks.

I think, judging from E3 where every second player is in a MAX, the team are going to have to make them a less enticing option. Don't let them jump in tanks, and decrease their reticule turn speed.

[chanic]

I'm not too concerned about MAX durability. An important thing to consider is that in the E3 demo not many people are playing engineer, and even if they are they may not have any idea how to repair.

In those instances where a player got lucky and killed 3 MAXes in a row, they were usually taking the MAXes by surprise, and the MAXs were probably not anywhere near full health. Any time a player turned a corner and found themselves face-to-face with a MAX, they never stood a chance.

[Zekeen]

Anyone notice how the MAX units kinda lunge forward, preventing headshots from behind. If you let someone come up to your face and plug 2+ clips in at close range, without being able to kill them with the massive MAX arsenal... you deserve to die.

[Bobby Shaftoe]

Originally Posted by Coreldan

Not really worried. Gotta remember a few things.

2) Everybody has MAX available from the second they log in in comparison to requiring a cert in PS1

I'm not sure about your logical leap there... considering in PS1 people said there were too many MAXs, especially after all the bundles/increase BRs in the game. That particular situation occured due to mid/late game-life developments, this now 'in-game' right from the start.

This in combination with split weapons and engies with ranged repair whilst moving doesn't bode well for there being much variety in indoor/short range infantry combat.

Inb4 the usual 'It's still alpha/beta, they'll balance/tweak it!' catechism that gets flung about whenever someone brings up valid concerns, without actually offering any suggestions as to how it would be 'balanced'.

1.) Everyone has them (Everyone is cool with BR40 for some reason); doubtful getting changed.
2.) Split weapons, AV + AI, lets you deal with any prime threat in a short range/indoor environment; doubtful this would change since every faction is now dual weapon equipped.
3.) Range repairs whilst moving, Engies; Would appear to be an integral 'facet' of the 'faster' gameplay methods they want to promote for PS2. Different rep rate multiplier for MAXs compared to other equipment possible?

So what you're stuck with is essentially 'balancing' MAXs through a specific ability of another class, before you even take into account the 'perks/bonuses' from certs within each of the two class trees and before you even go into cross Empire balance.

Gonna be fun seeing Lasher 2.0 playing out across multiple weapons/equipment combinations.

[Coreldan]

Originally Posted by Bobby Shaftoe

I'm not sure about your logical leap there... considering in PS1 people said there were too many MAXs, especially after all the bundles/increase BRs in the game. That particular situation occured due to mid/late game-life developments, this now 'in-game' right from the start.

This in combination with split weapons and engies with ranged repair whilst moving doesn't bode well for there being much variety in indoor/short range infantry combat.

Inb4 the usual 'It's still alpha/beta, they'll balance/tweak it!' catechism that gets flung about whenever someone brings up valid concerns, without actually offering any suggestions as to how it would be 'balanced'.

1.) Everyone has them (Everyone is cool with BR40 for some reason); doubtful getting changed.
2.) Split weapons, AV + AI, lets you deal with any prime threat in a short range/indoor environment; doubtful this would change since every faction is now dual weapon equipped.
3.) Range repairs whilst moving, Engies; Would appear to be an integral 'facet' of the 'faster' gameplay methods they want to promote for PS2. Different rep rate multiplier for MAXs compared to other equipment possible?

So what you're stuck with is essentially 'balancing' MAXs through a specific ability of another class, before you even take into account the 'perks/bonuses' from certs within each of the two class trees and before you even go into cross Empire balance.

Gonna be fun seeing Lasher 2.0 playing out across multiple weapons/equipment combinations.

Well, that is a good point, I didn't quite think it from the "after 9 years from launch" kinda ending, more like pre-BR increase kinda thing. If there were too many MAXs then, there will certainly be that now when nobody will have to even put 1 cert point into the thing, so the logical leap was trying to be that there is likely to be more of them on the field at least earlier on than last time, so it wouldn't hurt for them to be a bit weaker too.

Also, I'd sorta suppose that you are gonna need a dual-setup to be as effective in one role in comparison to PS. TTKs naturally are different, but I doubt you are suddenly a really high threat for two things if you have for example AI and AA. Sure, you can still kill both (at least infantry it seems), but you are gonna be a lot more effective by taking the same setup on both hands. At least that's very much how it should be balanced. Either you do two things in a mediocre fashion or one thing really good.

Not necessarily related to this thread, but did anyone catch how do you reload the MAX weapons? I mean, you have two weapons that can be shot individually, how do you reload them? I suppose it's not just pressing "R", cos then it would reload both and we saw weapons being reloaded individually.

[Malorn]

Not worried about MAX. Seemed OK. They were easy targets, not highly maneuverable, unable to capture on their own. They were deadly and could take hits, but that's what I expect them to do - otherwise they have no purpose.

A MAX is supposed to be a solid meatshield and be good at killing what it specializes in killing. Looks about right to me.

[Redshift]

Originally Posted by Bobby Shaftoe

This in combination with split weapons and engies with ranged repair whilst moving doesn't bode well for there being much variety in indoor/short range infantry combat.

Higby said they're killable with small arms fire from light assault if played well, and from what we saw in the demo it seems viable. I imagine a HA with the AV load out will destroy them instantly.

I'm not sure they'll be as popular as people think, they still have logistical issues and they don't have real shield regen.

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Redshift

Higby said they're killable with small arms fire from light assault if played well, and from what we saw in the demo it seems viable. I imagine a HA with the AV load out will destroy them instantly.

I'm not sure they'll be as popular as people think, they still have logistical issues and they don't have real shield regen.

could be possible that the heavy weapons destroy them too, we're yet to see them in action.

but yea the HA rockets were taking 50% HP off the maxes. id be considering rolling around with a dumbfire one for the purpose of taking them out at reasonably close range while been out of los to them or hopefully a thumper!

[cryosin]

I would agree that the maxes feel a bit weaker than the MAXes in PS1. But apparently it keeps switching from "MAXES are OP" to "MAXes drop like flies".

I think if they balance the cost vs the power it should balance out.

In planetside 1 practically everyone had a deci so MAXes where somewhat easier to kill if you ask me.

It seems like headshots are a key to killing a MAX without AV weapons.

[Knightwyvern]

Originally Posted by cryosin

I would agree that the maxes feel a bit weaker than the MAXes in PS1. But apparently it keeps switching from "MAXES are OP" to "MAXes drop like flies".

I think if they balance the cost vs the power it should balance out.

In planetside 1 practically everyone had a deci so MAXes where somewhat easier to kill if you ask me.

It seems like headshots are a key to killing a MAX without AV weapons.

This all seems to be quite true so far, and I think the answer to the "OP or drop like flies" bit is that they really are situational. That's what they're going for, no?

[Nasher]

They do seem a bit weak from what I've seen. In PS1 you pretty much needed AV weapons/ammo to kill a max. Snipers would do almost nothing to them because they were such an easy target. In PS2 we saw snipers taking them out with a handful of shots which is just silly.

I'm hoping there will be certs to nullify sniper weapons etc and increase armour at the cost of agility.

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

Originally Posted by Nasher

They do seem a bit weak from what I've seen. In PS1 you pretty much needed AV weapons/ammo to kill a max. Snipers would do almost nothing to them because they were such an easy target. In PS2 we saw snipers taking them out with a handful of shots which is just silly.

Took 15 Bolt Driver shots to kill a MAX in PS1, yes some were dumb enough to stand there and die to it.